Peter
Global temperature variation for the past 425,000 years. The present is at the right. The horizontal 0 line represents the 1961-1990 average global temperature. The numbers on the left show the variation from that baseline in °C.
The data were derived from an analysis of ice cores taken at the Vostok station in Antarctica. Find out more about how temperature estimates are made from proxy data.
Image based on data from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
The present day is at the far right of the chart. What do we see? First of all, there’s quite a bit of fluctuation. There are long periods of time when the average global temperature was as much as 9°C colder than now. These were Ice Ages. Much of the northern part of the world was covered with thick sheets of ice, much like we see today in Greenland and Antarctica. The most recent Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago. There were also times when it was warmer than today. On the whole, we are in a relatively warm period. What causes these changes in climate? There are many factors. Find out more…
3 comments:
Like the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
I hear many people say there's evidence for an impending climate change crisis all around us.. rising temperatures, receding polar caps, etc. But all that proves is that the climate is changing, as it always has.
It is much easier and accurate to chart what came before us than to predict what is yet to come. Graphs like this, based on concrete, scientific data, should be reassuring. Yet we are being led through fear to believe in the long term forecasts of climate models which produce limited and uncertain results.
I love all of the headlines, mottos and slogans calling for an end to climate change. Climate change is and has always been the norm. Stopping it would be the worst and most unnatural thing we could do to the planet.
Yes, climate change is a perfectly normal and natural part of the Earth's history. The alarmism we hear from those seeking to benefit from scaring the public about the dire consequences of global warming is what is unnatural. Thanks for paying attention.
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